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Friday, July 12, 2013

Sepia Saturday: Son of a Beach

Sepia Saturday challenges bloggers to
share family history through old photographs.

This week’s Sepia Saturday photo prompt is a familiar
rainy-day scene featuring an umbrella. But umbrellas are not just handy in rain as this old
family photo suggests.

John Jr. and poodle, maybe named "Cutey"Click to enlarge

The pint-size umbrella probably afforded little
protection from the sun. Honestly, it
might have been more at home in a Banana Daiquiri or Mai Tai.

John Jr., poodle, and Bob(Yes, I know - it looks like a girl. But it's Bob.)Click to enlarge.

These children are John Jr. and Bob. John and Bob Who? That’s what I want to know.
Photos spanning the years 1917-1921 are glued
into a small green soft-cover album that probably belonged to my great-grandmother Mary Theresa Sheehan Killeen Walsh.

John Jr. and Bob are the only people identified.

John Jr, Bob, poodle, and maybe Mary Theresa's sisterClick to enlarge

The adults are unknown to me, but occasionally there
is an air of familiarity – the shape of a woman’s face, the body-type. Intuition says it is one of Mary Theresa’s
sisters and that the pictures are of either Sarah or Josephine and grandchildren. It certainly can't be Delia because her children were only slightly older than these in the photos.

The little I know – or THINK I know – is that Mary Theresa often visited relatives in New York, her sisters I suppose and maybe a brother. This beach could
have been Coney Island. It could have
been Brighton Beach. It could have been Rockaway
Beach. Since Rockaway was known as the “Irish
Riviera” because of the large Irish population there in Queens, it was likely
the destination of my distant relatives, whoever they were. Some
of the photos are labeled “Richmond Hill,” a neighborhood in Queens. However, others are labeled “Bronx,” so I can’t
be sure what beach drew them there that day.

Regardless of where they were, they had a grand time it
seems. Even their pet poodle enjoyed a romp in the surf.

You'd think with the buildings in the background of those beach photos, it would be easy to identify the location. Especially after you mentioned beaches in New York, my ears perked up, since that is my old stomping ground (well...further out by Jones Beach). But I hardly recall any beach looking like that. Looking through historic images via Google images didn't help, either :(

More important than the location, though, would be the identity of the mystery people. You may just have to sketch out the family trees for your great grandmother's siblings and see if any John and Bob show up!

Working out a family that seemed to come and go or not even exist is the problem. Now, "John Jr" is sort of a clue because that tells me his father was John Sr. So did Mary Theresa's sisters have a son named John or did they have a daughter who married a John?? But I'm going to work on it.

Well, Wendy, I suppose it would be a long and hard task to find the children of all the collateral relatives in order to find a John Jr. and a Bob. Of course, knowing there's a John Sr. may help. At least you'd know the spouse would be John.... I continue to be surprised to see people fully dressed on the beach. Imagine the sand in clothes! Your presentation of this post was very fun and a nice tie-in with the SS photo.

Yes, I never understand being fully dressed at the beach. Doing laundry back then wasn't as easy as it is today.

I have tried searching for a John with children John and Robert in 1920 New York with no luck. With those names, I expected a gazillion hits but usually when those names appear, there are MORE children or Robert is older than John.

I hoped the location would enlighten me on who these people were. I've considered that possibly they weren't in New York at all, that maybe they went to Atlantic City or Myrtle Beach or other vacation spot.

At least you have first names...I have so many nameless ones. :( And since I rarely print off photos anymore- it seems I am doing the same thing to my future generations if I don't name each photo on my hard drive (something I am guilty of especially when my kids send me pics of the grands).

I have two cousins who are John and Bob, but they had a cocker spaniel, not a poodle. They, too, were beachers, loved the bury-each-other-in-sand routine...I hope you find out who they are, Wendy -- the photos are too good to be "lost."

The umbrella looks like a Japanese rice paper parasol. Probably had a bamboo handle and structure. I have one, now torn, that I bought as a kid in Hawaii. I saw it at a local store and saved and saved until I could buy it. Then at around age 8 I walked down to the store by myself and bought it. I felt so grownup making a purchase like that. Cost me three dollars.

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About Me

My name is Wendy. About twenty years ago, I helped my mother research the Jolletts. Since retiring from teaching, I have expanded my research which I share here. When I’m not looking for my own family, I index for FamilySearch and the Greene County Historical Society.
Welcome to Jollett Etc. Please leave a comment to let me know you were here. If you have more information or believe we are related, EMAIL ME at wendymath at cox dot net